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“THE
DEN” – Tiger Tales |
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Tiger Tales contains articles written by the players and are
usually featured in the PL’s Newsletter |
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Tiger Tales from Issue 4 of the Newsletter written by John
O’Leary: Want to play as good as John? Read below to find out what to eat
and drink prior, during and post game Well its not uncommon knowledge
that energy can be derived from two different sources, Carbohydrates and
Fats. Both of these are stored in our bodies and are used when the body is
put into an aerobic state which is predominately the energy system we would
be using throughout our games. Carbohydrates that are stored in the body are
stored as glycogen. This now known, you can
understand that you want to consume a lot of carbohydrates prior to match
day. However there are two different types of carbohydrates to be consumed.
Simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Simple carb’s
are the ones that contain a high amount of sugar transferring into your blood
stream very quickly and providing an instant amount of energy but not for a
long time. The complex carb’s are the more
starchy types which contain grains and are broken down over a much longer
period of time giving you a longer bout of energy. This is called our Glycemic Index or GI for short and all foods are rated on
their GI. A high GI food would be a fast consumed carbohydrate made up
typically of sugars where as a low GI food would be made up of more grainy
foods and be broken down as energy much slower. So what should you and what should you not
consume before a game? ·
About 2-3hours before the game you want to consume a
big low GI meal containing such foods as brown breads, pasta, rice, potatoes.
This wants to be about a 4:1 ratio of protein. ·
Remember that per gram of stored glycogen in the
body your body holds 2.7grams of water so if you are consuming a high amount
of carb’s your water intake wants to be high
also. 250ml every 15-20minutes up until 30minutes before the game ·
Don’t eat anything new before a game to stop
any stomach upsets. ·
Do not consume any sugary foods or high GI foods
before the game. This means no lollie's or sports
drinks unless it is 10minutes before you start to play. ·
You should only consume high GI foods 10minutes
prior to kick off. This means at this point you can eat sugary foods and
drinks such as lollies and sports drinks. However
do not consume both of these at the same time as your body can not handle
more than 8% of concentration of carbohydrate in the body at any one time. If
you consume more than this gastric emptying will be drastically reduced
creating stomach problems. Eating a bag of frogs with a
Powerade will do this to you. ·
When taking in sports drinks ensure you take small
sips rather than big gulps. By eating high sugary foods
you send a high rush of energy into your blood system. If this is not used up
as energy straight away it will elevate your insulin levels before sending
them plummeting down to make you feel very lethargic and tired. Hence DO NOT
CONSUME ANY SPORTS DRINKS OR LOLLIES BEFORE THE GAME UNLESS YOU ARE ABOUT
10MINUTES AWAY FROM KICK OFF. What should you consume during a game or at
half time? ·
During the game you are losing a huge amount of
water through sweat and therefore sodium, potassium, and magnesium levels are
also dropping rapidly ·
Drink as much water as you can during intervals in
the game to help maintain the top up of hydration levels. Just a 2% drop in
your hydration will start to show a drop in performances. Ideally you want to
consume about 250ml of water every 15-20minutes, but this is obviously not
always possible when playing a game ·
At the half time break you can consume another type
of simple carbohydrate which is a high GI. This will then top up your energy
levels before you attempt to tackle the second half. Lollies,
bananas, sports drinks are all expectable here but again don’t mix them
up due to potential stomach cramping What should I consume and drink post game? ·
After the game you can consume most things, High GI
foods low GI foods. Your metabolic rate will be at its highest point and your
body will be craving carbohydrates. You should consume about 30grams of carb’s in the first 30minutes after stopping
exercise and continue this on for the next 2 hours ·
Your body will be highly dehydrated so you will need
to consume a lot of water. How much is an individual thing. Weighing your
body weight pre game and post game and working out your weight lost will give
you a rough individual idea. 1 Kilo of weight lost will equate to about 1 Litre of water. At least 600ml needs to be consumed as
soon as possible to help remove debris from the body and flush it out as the
stomach is very acidic at this point ·
Try not to drink alcohol; this is not good for
replacing carbohydrate stores! It will only make you more dehydrated due to
its diuretic effects ·
If you have any injury you want to avoid alcohol for
up to 3 days as alcohol slows glycogen synthesis and inhibits the healing of
any injured tissue. Any further questions feel
free to ask away… [email protected] You can also check out John’s website at www.getpersonal.com.au |
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